Vaganzi Parlamentari

Minn nhar il-Ħamis, il-Parlament Ewropew jibda bil-vaganzi tas-sajf tiegħu, li jwasslu sat-tielet ġimgħa ta’ Awwissu. Kif naraha jien, dal-Parlament jinsab milqut miċ-ċaqliq politiku li għaddej fl-Ewropa. Qiegħed iħabbat b’messaġġi politiċi li tilfu r-rankatura.

Sa sajf ieħor, ikunu seħħew l-elezzjonijiet Ewropej. Iċ-ċansijiet huma qawwija li se jkun hemm bidliet mhux żgħar fil-kompożizzjoni tad-deputati. Il-forzi “reazzjonarji” tal-lemin hekk imsejjaħ estrem se jissaħħu, kif se jiġri għal dawk li jissejħu ewro“xettiċi”. It-tnejn mhux bilfors jiġbdu l-istess ħabel.

Jekk hemm xi tort għal dan, jaqa’ żgur fuq il-Parlament attwali, fost oħrajn. Kompla jimbotta l-politika li kien wiret, imfaqqsa f’koalizzjoni stramba bejn Martin Schulz tas-soċjal demokratiċi u l-Partit Ewropew tal-Popolari. Dil-koalizzjoni jidher li se titkompla fix-xhur li ġejjin.

Tul dawn il-vaganzi parlamentari, naħseb li se jkun hemm bżonn ta’ riflessjoni dwar jekk “more of the same” hux l-aħjar rimedju għal Ewropa li m’għadhiex koerenti.

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DINJA MIBDULA

Quddiem id-deputati Ewropej tas-soċjalisti u d-demokratiċi, il-viċi president tal-Kummissjoni nkarigata mill-politika barranija tal-Unjoni Ewropea, Frederica Mogherini tat rendikont skjett ta’ kif qed jinbidel il-bilanċ ta’ forzi politiċi barra mill-Ewropa u ġo fiha.

L-akbar problema – qalet hi – u ma tistax ma taqbilx magħha – hi t-tisħiħ fl-Ewropa u barra minnha ta’ nazzjonaliżmu qawwi. Dan qed iħarbat l-inizjattivi ġenwini fl-Ewropa għal politika komuni u fuq skala globali qed ikisser il-linji ta’ koperazzjoni li nbnew fl-imgħoddi.

Mogherini għandha raġun fl-analiżi li qed tagħmel. Wara kollox, hi waħda mill-membri tal-Kummissjoni Ewropea li l-aktar kienet valida f’ħidmietha. Li jdejjaqni fil-pożizzjoni tagħha hu li ma hemm l-ebda għarfien kif jaħtu għall-problemi tal-lum… bil-populiżmu jħabbat fuq ix-xatba b’suċċess… huma l-attitudnijiet li ċ-ċentru xellug u ċ-ċentru lemin baqgħu jinsistu fuqhom f’koalizzjoni mijopika tul l-aħħar snin.

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FIL-ĠONNA

Kif jien (u nistħajjel oħrajn tal-età tiegħi) naraw il-bidliet li qed isir fl-ambjent naturali ta’ pajjiżna bilfors li hu differenti milli jitkellmu dwaru l-ambjentalisti tal-lum, għalkemm naħseb li ninsabu fuq l-istess binarju. Irridu ħarsien razzjonali tal-ambjent li fih ngħixu.

Issa, meta kont tifel, fl-istess ġnien li għadu jeżisti llum, kienu jersqu ħafna naħal, żunżan u friefet ta’ kull kulur. Illum kważi sparixxew.

Dak iż-żmien, il-gamumilla kienet tispunta minn kullimkien bħala pjanta “selvaġġa”. Illum, anke meta xxerred iż-żerriegħa tagħha mal-irkejjen kollha, ma jinbet xejn.

Min-naħa l-oħra, qabel ftit kienu jitfaċċaw gremxul; u ma nemminx li dan ġara għax kienu jeqirduom il-qtates. Illum, il-gremxul ħa postu sew fl-inħawi.

Ma nistax nifhem xinhu jwassal għal dawn ir-riżultati li donnhom kuntradittorji.

English Version – Parliamentary holidays

As of this Thursday and up to the third week of August, the European Parliament will be on summer holiday. As I see it, the Parliament has been badly affected by the political developments that are still going on in Europe. It still resonates to messages that have been running out of steam.

By next summer, new European elections will have been held. Chances are that there will be substantial changes in the mix of MEPs. The so-called “reactionary” forces of the extreme right will be strenghtened as will be those labelled euro“sceptics”. The two forces will not necessarily be pulling in the same direction.

If there is blame to be apportioned for this, some of it should attach to the actual Parliament, among others. It continued to push a policy approach it had inherited, hatched out of a strange coalition between Martin Schulz for the social democrats and the European People’s Party. It seems like this coalition will continue to prevail in coming months.

During the break, I believe it should be necessary to give some thought to the question regarding whether more of the same will constitute the best remedy for a Europe that has lost its coherence.

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A world that is changing

Before the parliamentary group of socialists and democrats, the vice president of the European Commission in charge of external affairs Frederica Mogherini gave a sober account of how the balance between political forces is changing in Europe and beyond.

The biggest problem, she said – and one has to agree –is the strengthening in Europe of a fierce nationalism that is undermining genuine initiatives on the continent for common policies. On a global level, it is disrupting the lines of cooperation that were established in the past.

Mogherini’s assessment is a correct one. In her work to date she has been one of the most valid of the Commission’s members. What worries me in her position is that there seems to be no recognition as to how today’s problems… now that a resurgent populism is knocking at the gates… result from approaches that the centre left and the centre right have been pursuing via a myopic coalition maintained over past years.

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In gardens

How I (and possibly others of my generation) react to the changes that are proceeding in the natural environment of the island is inevitably different from the reactions of today’s environmentalists. Even so, we might still be on the same track for we all look forwad to a rational protection of the “natural” environment that people live in.

Now when I was a kid, in the samegarden that still exists today, lots of bees and wasps would come to visit, as well as butterflies of many colours. Today they seem to have vanished altogether.

In those days camomile shrubs would grow all over the place and were considered a “wild” plant. Today even if you throw camomile seeds in every corner, nothing seems to follow.

By contrast, lizards were then quite absent, and one cannot believe this was because cats would have killed them off. Today, and this is a pleasant development, lizards have become part of the habitat.

What I cannot understand is what would have led to these apparently contradictory developments.